For dutiful son ALLEN GINSBERG (Daniel Radcliffe),
Columbia University is Meccaa portal to art, intellect,
culture, and freedomeverything hometown Patterson, New
Jersey is not. When Allen is accepted into Columbia, his
father LOUIS (David Cross), a working-class poet, urges
him to leave his emotionally ill mother NAOMI (Jennifer
Jason Leigh) behind and head to New York to go pursue
his own creative dreams.

At Columbia, Allen finds stuffy tradition clashing with
daringly modern ideas and attitudesembodied by LUCIEN
CARR (Dane DeHaan), whom he first encounters shouting a
scandalous passage from Henry Miller atop a library
study table. With his louche charm and androgynous blond
beauty, Lucien is an object of fascination for shy,
unsophisticated Allen, and soon he is drawn into
Luciens hard-drinking, reefer-smoking, jazz-clubbing
circle of friends, including WILLIAM BURROUGHS (Ben
Foster), the dissolute scion of a wealthy family, and
DAVID KAMMERER (Michael C. Hall), an older hanger-on who
clearly resents Allens position as Luciens new
sidekick. David apparently followed Lucien to New York,
and now works as a janitor despite his showy
intellectual pretensions. Lucien uses his moody charisma
to pit David against Allen while never quite
acknowledging his true feelings for either.

As their relationship deepens, Allen and Lucien realize
they both share emotionally troubled pasts and a passion
for poetry. Eager to shatter literary and social
conventions, Lucien is full of grandiose manifestosbut
its Allen whom he challenges to produce the work that
will set the world afire (and David who slavishly writes
Luciens school papers). While theyre busy competing
for his favor, Lucien finds his interest drawn to JACK
KEROUAC (Jack Huston), whos older, tougher, and
cockiera working-class ex-football player who shipped
out with the merchant marine, cohabits with sexy EDIE
(Elizabeth Olsen) andto really up the antewrites like
a wildman. Jacks oversize persona could easily crush
insecure Allen, but instead he encourages Allens poetry
writing.